Friends Are the Best Medicine
by Spirits Among Stars
Summary: People you love are the best medicine out there especially after being kidnapped by HYDRA. Gabriella hopes to ease back into her work with S.H.I.E.L.D., surrounded by her very good friends and people she would love to get to know, but she was wrong. As per usual.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a continuation of Compromised, you can read it as standalone but I doubt you'd understand most if the references. If you're not deterred, read on, my friend!**

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Doctor Gabriella Ackerly, blue merle border collie Orion, and Bernese Mountain Dog Lyra sat in their Quinjet, flying towards the United States for the Theta Protocol facility to see in person the Hellicarrier that was being repaired, on the request of Nick Fury. They were also going to meet with Phil Coulson who, according to Sam Koenig, was heading to the facility as well as her. It would be great to catch up with the now-Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and once the tour of the facility was over, they were going back to the Playground to meet his team as it's been a long since they last met. It was going to be a welcome change of pace since her capture and... various experiments in the HYDRA base and the consequent break that was almost forced on her by Fury. She was heading back into the world and was looking forward to it. She was ready for the numerous questions asked by Coulson, Teagan Meyer, and the rest of Phil's team, even Fitz. It might have been over a month since he woke from his coma, but he was still in recovery and the presence of friends during recovery does the world a good.

The doctor didn't have to worry about navigation as she had the autopilot do the work; she'd take over if needs be. She sat in her chair and watched Lyra pace about the jet and the old dog Orion asleep on the floor. It would take them a couple hours to get to the facility so she would use this time to come up with answers to greetings and answers to questions.

The hours flew by and before long they were landing in the underground secret base. They landed in a small inbound and outbound aircraft hanger but obviously there was a much larger one for the Hellicarrier. She stood up from her chair and put a harness on Lyra; she walked well without one but this place looked easy to get lost in. Besides, she could control the curious dog if she got to jumpy. Walking towards the ramp, she pushed the button and it opened. The trio left the Quinjet.

Waiting for her a few feet from the base of the ramp was Sam. He smiled seeing her and approached them. "Welcome to Theta Protocol, Doctor!" He gestured vaguely to their surroundings and handed her very fetching lanyard.

She looked at it before slipping it over her head. "I don't remember ever having to wear these."

"They where implemented as a standard means of identification when Phil became Director. There's a tracker inside so I know where everyone is at every moment."

"They don't have to wear one, do they?" Ackerly asked, pointing to Orion and Lyra.

"Y'know, I didn't think of that. They'll be with you most of the time... hmm, maybe I will create some for them."

"I eagerly await it." She said. "Now where's Phil?"

"Follow me." Sam replied with a smile. She followed him as he lead her to Coulson.

"I heard about your brother. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Doctor. Eric died doing what he loved."

Ackerly nodded and they left the hanger. They walked down numerous corridors and dodged passed many agents. "How the hell did Nick keep this a secret? Where did he get the money? Just, how?"

Sam laughed. "For starters, only people Fury trusts absolutely know about this place."

"So I guess Steve and Natasha don't know?"

"You are correct. Neither does your friend, Meyer, and I hope to keep it that way."

"Really? Fury didn't tell her?"

"I assume he has his reasons."

"Quite right. I'll keep my mouth shut about it then."

"Thank you." Sam said smiling.

A few passing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents recognised Ackerly and they momentarily stopped her to say they were looking forward to seeing her back in action; two offered to look after Orion and Lyra if she needed someone to. After the last agent to finish talking to her, she and Sam resumed their walk towards Coulson, who was in a room overlooking the construction of the Helicarrier. How Fury managed to salvage the Helicarrier without being seen was beyond her. The cloak? She would be surprised if it still worked after being taken down by Steve and Sam. Wilson, not Koenig.

They reached the viewing room and Sam swiped his lanyard on the scanner by the door. It opened and she sauntered in. Before Coulson had a chance to turn, she announced herself loudly, "Surprise Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

He instantly pivoted to face her with a wide and happy smile. "Gabriella!" They walked up to one another and tightly hugged for a few seconds. Coulson said as they parted, "God, it's good to see you in person."

"Same here, Phil. It's nice to be with people who don't want me dead." She replied, patting his back. Coulson glanced down at the familiar, and the unfamiliar dogs. "Lyra, meet Phil Coulson. Phil, meet my new dog Lyra."

The Director smiled down at Lyra and patted her head. "You look fluffier in person." Lyra stuck her tongue out. "Cheeky."

Sam chuckled behind them and they turned to him. "I'll leave you two to get reacquainted. You know how to find me." With a final smile, Sam walked away, the door closing behind him.

"So!" Ackerly said turned to Coulson, "Here the same reason as I am?"

"Nick?"

"Yep."

"It seems I am."

They moved to sit on two chairs overlooking the huge Helicarrier. Orion and Lyra lay next to each other on the floor in front of their owner's feet. "Teapot doesn't know, eh? May? Skye?"

Coulson shook his head. "No, it's super secret. No one can know."

"Then what do they think you're doing?" She asking watching the Engineers work.

"Recruiting in London." Coulson replied. "We're gonna have to think of an excuse if you want to come to the Playground."

"I've already got one." Coulson looked at her with a raised eyebrow and an expression that wanted her to elaborate. "I was in my place in Russia keeping an eye on things from afar and I saw that you had landed in London. I thought that it was about time I left my hermit lifestyle and went to see you. We failed at trying to find recruits, unless you count me, and then we came back."

"You thought that on the way here?" He asked.

"Just now actually. Spending time doing next to nothing in a HYDRA base really increases one's mental capacity."

"I'm-"

"C'mon, Phil, don't say I'm sorry. We already went through this."

"I know." Coulson said. He looked her up and down. "I'm going to say something I don't think you'll like."

"Yes?"

"I couldn't tell during our chat, but you look absolutely exhausted. Regardless of your break, you look horrible. That can be expected with what happened and what you said but I've only ever seen you look so tired once before."

She silently nodded in agreement. After the O.R.B.S thing... She'd rather not talk about that dark time. "Let's hope I drop the bags on our way back the Playground."

"Will you be sticking around?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Probably not. I've got to try and find where they keep the Scepter, and if that comes up bust I... I'll find something to do. But if you ever need a hand just ask."

Coulson looked at her. "There is always a spare spot on the team for you."

"Thanks. I might take you up in that in the future, depending on things that is."

"Of course." He said with a nod.

"How's Fitz?"

"He's slowly making progress."

"Good, give him time. Hypoxia and Aphasia suck but friends go a long away. They are the best medicine."

There was a pause in which Coulson sighed quietly before saying, "He's hallucinating Simmons."

Ackerly turned her head to Coulson with wide eyes. She blinked once, "Excuse me? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Ever since she left, he's been talking to her. We have to pretend she's still there."

"How bad are they?"

"They're alright but I think they might get worse."

Ackerly nodded slowly and rubbed her chin. "I still want to see him." After a quiet moment, she stood up. "Right, let's not sit around here, let's see what this Helicarrier has to offer."

Coulson smiled as he stood to his feet. "Someone's back to their normal self."

She smiled at him. "Almost."


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next week, they toured the facility and helped with the rebuilding of the carrier, both physical and technological. Lyra and Orion behaved themselves, except that one time where an agent was cooking dinner and Lyra ran off with a dozen sausages. It took them an hour to find her; she was hidden under Ackerly's temporary bed eating them and refusing to come out for anyone. They coaxed her out with the promise of a large dog bone which was quickly taken back under the bed and gnawed on throughout the week by both dogs. Anyway, with Sam satisfied that they weren't needed here too much and Ackerly's eagerness to see the his team, Coulson decided it was about time they left for the Playground. Sam waved them off, saying that he'd miss Lyra's shenanigans and hoped they, or at least Ackerly, would be back soon.

The autopilot piloted their way to the Playground while the doctor and Director spoke more. There was one thing she was waiting to ask Phil but not until they were completely away from anyone who would overhear her, and that was his recovery from death. She was told by Fury but wanted to hear about it from the man himself now she knew the truth. Sparing the slow pace of asking, she jumped straight to it. "Killed by Loki. Brought back by bloody alien DNA. And no side effects?!" Coulson, wondering where the hell that came from, turned his head and stared at her. "Nick told me everything. Well most of it, but what the hell! Loki straight up murdered your arse! You should be dead, but you're right here."

"You can keep secrets."

"How long have you known me? Of course!"

Coulson sighed and rubbed his forehead. "There are side effects." She waited patiently from him to continue, even though on the inside, she wanted him to tell her now. "Extreme side effects. At first we had success with the regenerative properties of the guest-host tissue, but after the physical recovery, the subjects began to deteriorate mentally; signs of hypergraphia, aphasia, catatonia, or just complete psychosis quickly became prominent."

"Subject _s_?" She asked slowly, not wanting the answer to be as bad as she thinks.

"I chose six S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with terminal illnesses to be participants in the project. After each was injected with GH.325, GH.325 has the effect of completely regenerating cellular tissue, their illnesses stopped. Then they deteriorated."

"What did they do, Phil?"

"They began showing signs of insanity which included writing in symbols."

"Oh God." She rubbed her face, uneasy at the answer.

"I conferred with Dr. Goodman, suggesting ending the program and destroying the alien. Goodman said that the genetic memory of the alien was implanting itself onto the patients, so the Memory Overwriting Machine could be used to scrub the brains and give the patients new lives, to which I reluctantly agreed."

"You didn't."

"I did. I immediately regretted using the machine, they had to be kept conscious, with their skull caps removed, as their memories were changed. I've never heard screams like it... They were released with no memory of the previous life as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and their personal backgrounds were documented with the deaths of their pasts." Coulson sighed and rubbed his face. "The cost was far too great to continue. It had to be terminated." He sighed again. "Project T.A.H.I.T.I. Used to resurrect a fallen Avenger and apparently I fit the bill."

She stared at him with an extremely concerned face, "You've been writing symbols, haven't you?" He nodded his head. "Oh, crap. Flippin' heck... Have you told anyone?"

"Only Andrew Garner. Please don't tell anyone."

"Even if I did I wouldn't know where to start. I won't tell a soul, Phil, you have my word." She shuffled close and put an arm around his shoulder. "Do they mean anything?"

"I have no idea."

"Christ, man. I-I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing to say." Phil said.

"Well... if-if you need something to talk to I'm here. I might not know what you're talking about but I'll listen." Ackerly told him, sincerely. "I'm here for you, Phil."

Phil exhaled and nodded, "Thanks, Gabe."

"Orion and Lyra can help out too."

This made Coulson chuckle so she removed her arm from his shoulders. "We've got an hour until we reach the Playground; is there anything else you want to get off your chest?"

"No. What about you?"

She paused to think. She didn't think so. They had already talked at length about everything during their time in the Theta Protocol facility. "No... No, I don't think so."

"Alright." Phil said with a nod.

Before long they arrived at the Playground, only informing May that Coulson would be returning in the Quinjet and that he had failed to recruit any agents in London. It would be a nice surprise for them. As they descended to land, Ackerly could see May and Meyer enter the hanger to greet them, well, him. The jet landed and she glanced over at Coulson who was smiling and making his way to the opening ramp. "Really?" She heard Meyer say, "Not a single agent wanted to come with you? You're alive surely that's enough to turn some heads."

"Sorry, Teagan, you don't get to annoy any new recruits." Coulson replied. Meyer laughed sarcastically.

Ackerly nudged Orion and Lyra, "Alright, you two," she whispered, "let's go."

"But," Coulson said as she lead the group towards the ramp.

"You can annoy me; I have to say I have missed your ramblings." She finished for him, stepping onto the ramp and walking down it with her dogs at her sides.

Meyer's eyes widened in shock and a huge smile formed on her features. She bounced on the spot and cheered happily. "Bloody hell! Gabe!" May looked surprised at the doctor being here and Teagan's reaction. Meyer rushed forward and embraced Ackerly tightly before she could say hello.

Ackerly hugged back with a grin, "It's great to see you too!" The two woman parted but remained at arms length. Meyer flashed Coulson an angry look for not telling her, it made the doctor giggle, but her smile quickly returned. "How are you?"

"Much better for finally seeing you! And you brought dogs!" At that they parted and Meyer bent down to pet Orion and Lyra.

Whilst Teagan did that, Ackerly turned to May and they shook hands. "It's good to see you, May."

"You too. We're glad you could stop by." May said.

"Me too." The doctor replied.

"Now!" Meyer exclaimed standing up straight, finishing fussing the dogs. "Let's not hang around. You need to see the place."

Ackerly cracked another smile at her friend's enthusiasm and nodded, taking Lyra's lead in hand. "Lead the way." Meyer grinned again and led them into the Playground. She glanced at Coulson who was smiling and May who seemed happy, she was a hard woman to read after all.


	3. Chapter 3

The Playground was much busier than she expected, she recognised a few passing faces but not the majority she saw. They headed through the corridors to the common room where most were congregated at this time of day. Lyra looked like she was enjoying the change of location and Orion was indifferent. She listened to all the chatter, felt the energy both human and artificial surging through the base, and the unease in the air. She couldn't help herself but to admit that she missed it. They reached the fairly empty common room and Meyer was the one to announce Ackerly's arrival before anyone could blink in their direction. "Guess who!" She sang loudly.

Skye, and another she didn't recognise, turned around to face them. Skye's face lit up and she jumped up from her chair. "Doctor!" She hurried forward and the pair hugged. "It's great to see that you're not dead." She said as they parted.

"Feels good not to be dead." Ackerly replied with the smile. The other stood up. Yep, still no idea who he was but his face was one of disbelief and shock. To be honest, she didn't blame him. She looked at Meyer, Coulson and Skye to introduce her to him.

Coulson stepped beside her, and said, "Antoine Triplett, this is Gabriella Ackerly."

" _Doctor_ Gabriella Ackerly." She corrected.

Trip blinked a couple times before reaching out and shaking her hand. "You've got one hell of a reputation, doc, from the stories I hear."

She instantly scowled at Meyer and Skye before looking back to him. "Good stories I hope."

He nodded quickly, "Yeah, all good."

"You seem nervous, don't be. I'm not going to hurt you." He had switched sides from John Garret's team to Phil's and thought she was going to hurt him. From what she understood, which may or may not be true, it came as quite a shock about Garrett being the clairvoyant, and Trip did save Simmons' life so that was good enough for her. "What happened in the past is in the past. There's no need to be freaked by by me." Trip nodded.

Coulson entered the conversation, "There are other members of the team," he said, "but they're on a mission and won't be back for sometime."

Ackerly nodded in understanding, "So I might meet them, fair enough. In the meantime, I can catch up with all of you." They all smiled. "But I want to see Fitz first, see how he's doing."

"I'll take you to him." Meyer voiced when the others looked unsure. "He'll enjoy seeing you again." The doctor said a quick farewell to May, Coulson, Skye, and Trip, before heading out of the common to Fitz's bedroom. A few weeks after he awoke from his coma, he was finally able to be discharged on the condition that he stayed in his room for the next couple of weeks. He didn't seem to mind. "Go slowly with him, Gabe. He still has trouble talking."

"I will. I have a feeling Lyra and Orion can work their magic like Orion did with me."

"It has been proven that dogs do wonders for the sick."

Ackerly agreed with a nod and a smile. "Let's hope he doesn't want to borrow my prosthesis again and break it like he and Simmons did last time."

"It be fair though, it wasn't their fault." Meyer pointed out.

"It was turbulence that jolted them and caused them to slice through the neurological interface, I know." Ackerly said. Meyer chuckled.

They stopped outside of Fitz's bedroom amd the two woman exchanged looks. Ackerly gave a nod of her head and Meyer knocked thrice on the door. "Fitz. There's a special guest here for you. Can she come in?" They waited for a few moments before they got their hesitant reply.

"Yes."

Meyer opened the door with a smile and Ackerly stepped in. Fitz lay on his bed with the TV on low volume and a circuitry board on his bedside table. She smiled friendly at him. "Hello, Fitz."

"I'll leave you too it." Meyer murmured and shut the door behind her.

Fitz stared at her with wide eyes. "Yes, I am alive, ignore the rumours. I just needed a break from... from everything that happened." She gestured to the nearby chair. "D'you mind if I sit?" He shook his head and she sat down. "Oh! I'd like you to meet the newest addition to my small family, Lyra." The bernese mountain dog jumped onto the end of the bed and wagged her tail. "She's awfully friendly but that's good." A small smile formed on the young scientist's lips. "So, how are you doing?"

Fitz took his time to answer her. "I... hate... it."

"Understandable. But you'll get there. Don't force your recovery, believe me when I say that."

"I... I... do."

"Speaking of which, I had the bright idea to lend, I guess that's the right word, to lend you Lyra and/or Orion for a while." She smiled and Orion put his chin by Fitz's hand. "For a while, of course."

"They... h-have... Ward... in the, um, the uhh, the... t-the... the... the... the!" His fists clenched tightly.

"Easy Fitz! Take as long as you need to- Ward's here?" Fitz nodded. "Son of a bitch, no one told me that."

"You... you... They thou-think you... might... uhh, k-kill him."

She nodded slowly. "That doesn't seem like a bad idea but if you've got him here then you need him for answers."

Fitz nodded. "D-doctor... c-uhh-could you... say-tell me... what they did... to-to you?"

"Alright. Buckle up, you're in for a wild ride." That made Fitz smile again and she told him everything; from the experiments to the reason behind why Erin did them to their almost success at turning her into a bomb. The young man was shocked to hear it all but listened intently to her story. Once she had finished, she left the tale sit in the air as the scientist absorbed it.

After a while, Fitz said slowly, "S-so... have... um-you... d-d-exploded... sin-ce?"

Ackerly shook her head, "No. But the times I have done it were during experiencing one big emotion, fear. Fear for both my life, and Shiori's... but that didn't stop me from... killing her."

"Not-"

"My fault. I know. I've been told that enough times. It's HYDRA's fault, they did this to me. I could go as far as to say it was my fault for going back to the Helicarrier after Phil called me back in 2010, or I could say it was Crazy Eyes' fault for attacking the Helicarrier in the first place, but thinking like that would most likely drive me mad and won't help anyone. It'd be one vicious cycle of blame." Fitz nodded agreeingly. "So the blame lies with HYDRA and Erin as it always shall be unless I learn anything else about it which will change my mind."

"Will... D-do... you think you'll... e-ever fi-know w-why they at-attacked the Hell-hellicarrier?"

"Nope. And at this point, I'm over it. If I find out, I found out. If I don't, I don't. Simple. Once upon a time I was desperate to know but I'm older and there are more important things to care about."

Fitz nodded. "H-how... w-long... will y-you... be-vis-stay?"

"I don't know. Not for a while." Lyra nuzzled her way under Fitz's left arm. "She likes you." He gave the dog a small smile and ruffled her head. "Now then, I'll leave you to it, if you don't mind."

"Not-not...not... No."

She smiled at the scientist and stood from her chair. "Need anything?" He shook his head. "Alright. If you do then tell Lyra and she'll find me." She smiled again at Fitz before leaving his room.


	4. Chapter 4

Ackerly closed Fitz's bedroom door behind her with Orion at her feet. She looked down at the old dog, "Right then, boy-o, what to do now?" He tensed.

"Doctor Ackerly?" Someone asked. She looked up to see an unfamiliar face standing in front of her. He wore the usual suit associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. and was clean shaven.

"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I hope you don't mind me staying this but I'm a huge fan!" Every part of his body was animated as she spoke. "What you did in New York was _amazing_ and what happened to you is really terrible."

"Which happening? I've had a lot of terrible ones." She said with a chuckle. Orion was still tense. Was he alright?

"Erin Hook."

 _Wait a second_! Only a few people knew that it was _her_ in the gym incident and even less know about the kidnapping. Her eyes widened and he reached out for her. She ducked and head butted him in the chin. As he reeled back, she kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled back and fell into the wall. "Orion! Get help!" Orion barked and took off to find an actual S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. She pinned the man to the wall with all the strength she could muster.

Hearing Fitz's bedroom door open, she made an effort to hold him firmer so he didn't hurt Fitz through her. "D...doctor?" He asked. Lyra bounded out of the room behind him and was at her owner's side growling and snarling at the HYDRA agent.

The man struggled under her. "Fitz," she said hurriedly, "you got anything to knock this guy out?!"

"Oh! I-urm-yes!" He hurried back into his bedroom.

The HYDRA man laughed and sneered, "You can't get away from us, doctor. We're always here."

"That might be true but I'll keep killing you all." She replied, tightening her grip on his shirt. "The more heads that come after me, I'll cut down. You won't stop and neither will I."

He smashed his head against her's, causing her to relent her grasp only for a moment. That moment was all he needed. He shoved her away and something sharp pierced her upper arm. He kicked her in the gut, winding her. Hunched over in pain, she watched as Lyra leaped onto the assailant and latched onto his forearm with an unyielding grip. He yelled in pain and pulled at her collar to get her off to little avail. The doctor took a deep breath to refill her lungs and a gun shot echoed past her ears. The HYDRA agent dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes and Lyra let go of his now limp and bloody arm. Ackerly looked around to find the owner of the gun shot. Up the corridor came Orion, Phil, Meyer and May with their guns aimed but not pulled. Looking left and behind her was Fitz. He shot the HYDRA agent.

She let out a long sigh of relief and rubbed her right arm where she felt the sting. "Thanks, Fitz, I owe you one." He stared at the HYDRA agent, and lowered his gun with a nod.

"Holy crap!" shouted Meyer dashing up to her with Orion. "Are you alright?!"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm good."

Coulson and May approached the unconscious man. "Care to explain what happened?" May asked, watching the man carefully in case he would wake up.

"I came out of Fitz's room and he was there. He said he was a huge fan but said something I know for a fact he shouldn't know."

"What was it?" asked May.

"I'd rather not say." She continued to rub her arm. "I think he did something to me. He pushed me away and I felt something sharp on my arm... He also said that HYDRA would always be after me but that's not new." She looked at Phil. "Who is he? When did he join? Where from?"

"His name is John Haugen." Meyer said.

"He joined about a month or so ago from a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house near Oslo." Coulson continued.

"That's too close for comfort..." She murmured to herself. "Did anyone else come with him?"

Meyer nodded, "Yeah, Mikaela Day."

"Find her. Search her rooms. I want to talk to her."

"Why?" May asked as she and Skye hauled the unconscious Haugen to his feet.

"I need to know if they're HYDRA and been following me."

"That's un-"

She cut May off, "Do it."

The Calvary, she shouldn't call her that, she knew where she got that nickname from- she was there. May looked at Coulson who nodded in agreement with the idea. "Do as she says." He told her.

"Okay." May handed Haugen over to another pair of agents and immediately started giving out orders to find Day.

Coulson put his hand on the shoulder of the arm Ackerly rubbed. "Let's see if he did do anything to you." He looked at Fitz. "Good work, Fitz, now get some rest." The young scientist opened his mouth to proest by the DIrect shot him a look that sent him back into his room.

Lyra looked up at her owner then to Orion and then Fitz's open door. "You can stay with him if you want." Ackerly told her. Lyra ambled into Fitz's bedroom where the door closed behind her.

"Alright, come on." Both Meyer and Phil said, ushering her towards the way of the medical lab.

"There's no need to baby me." She pointed out as they got to far into her personal space.

"Sorry." They said.

"It's nice once in a while but I'm a big girl."

Meyer laughed. "I'm sure you are."

They continued through the busy corridors towards medical with Orion walking ahead of them. Suddenly, he stopped and turned his head around to his owner. "Orion, what-" she felt the familiar feel of pins and needles all over her body, "get me out of here now." Phil and Teagan exchanged glances before looking back at the doctor confused. "Now!"

"Oh! Follow me!" Coulson hastily said. The quartet broke into a run and hurried down the corridor, dodging and darting past the confused agents, as they headed towards somewhere she didn't think was out. But they knew this place better than her. Her heart vibrated like a humming bird's wings trapped in her chest and the air temperature rose. Her body began to burn up. Minutes. They had minutes before something bad happened.


	5. Chapter 5

They hurried down a set of stairs and entered into a long corridor. Phil opened the a door to Vault C and practically shoved the doctor in. For a lack of a better word, it was a prison cell. A dark cell with a bed, a few lights in the ceiling and a small upright control panel in the middle. They dashed down the stairs and pointed her into the cell which promptly closed behind her in a flash of orange energy. Orion nipped at the other agents' heels to get them to return up the stairs and out the door. Despite the force field, it could shatter under the blast she was about to emit. "Listen to him." The doctor warned as the power inside her grew faster than she wanted.

"But-"

"Teapot, you don't want-" Before she could finish her sentence, the power inside her was unleashed into the small cell, almost short circuiting the force field that protected Phil, Teagan and Orion. She collapsed to her knees and leaned against the bed for support with a pounding head and aching body. That was so close to becoming something fatal and thanks to Orion, they managed to prevent that. The whole room spun, her eyelids were heavy and she felt nauseous, the latter was a new sensation regarding this burst.

"...Gabe?" asked Teagan slowly after a long moment of silence. "Are you- do you need anything?"

She held up a finger and nodded, the motion disturbing her head. "I..." she took a deep breath, still with all her weight against the bed, "I need some water... And... and a good nap."

"I'll get you your water." Phil said.

Just as she heard him leave, she said, "Please, don't tell anyone."

"I won't say a word." And with that he was gone.

Ackerly rubbed her forehead and breathed deeply and rhythmically. She heard Teagan take a tentative step forward. "C-can I come in? Like, is it safe?" Her words hesitant, wary and a little scared. She gave the younger woman a thumbs up and even that movement ached. The force field terminated and she slowly approached. "Need a hand onto the bed?" The initial shock of what she witnessed faded away from her voice and, even though she couldn't see her body language, she could tell Teagan was still cautious about her.

"Yes." She whispered.

Teagan put her hands under the doctor's arms and slowly helped her up and onto the bed. She carefully aided the doctor into a comfy laying position with a couple pillows under her head. Orion jumped onto the small bed and laid my his owner's feet. "So," Meyer said, fidgeting with her hands, "so that's what happens when you... you know... explode."

Ackerly nodded, "It... takes a lot of out me." The nauseous feeling in her stomach still lingered but it wasn't as bad as it was. All of her body ached.

"I can see that." Teagan leaned against the wall nearest the bed. "They really did do a good one on you... What do you think Haugen did to you?"

She shrugged and rubbed her face. "I think it may have been an accelerant of some kind. They want to eliminate as many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they can and it was probably something to speed up an explosive reaction to kill everyone here... And it almost bloody worked too." Angry and upset about the whole thing, her lower lip quivered. "We-we can't let them keep the information. It could prove deadly to everyone! No more people need to die because of me."

"I hear you, and don't worry, I'll make sure to find a HYDRA base so we can delete those files."

"At first I was chasing deleted files and now I'm trying to find files to delete."

"What a weird world."

Ackerly nodded in agreement. She glanced up at her friend. "So, how's the hunt for Loki's Sceptre going?"

"Slowly." Phil announced as he descended the stairs with a large cup of water in hand. "We're not getting anywhere at the moment. Fury and Hill are helping as much as they can but it's hard." He reached the cell and handed the doctor the drink which she thirstily drank. "And I've already got Skye working on Day and Haugen's computers for anything sinister. As for what happened, are you sure we can't go to the base you were held in and get rid of them there?"

"You can go back there, but I'm not setting foot into that hell-hole."

Coulson nodded then looked at Meyer, "Go tell Bobbi and the others to head to Copenhagen and give them the base's coordinates, then help Skye and Trip."

"Should I tell them why they're going there?" Teagan asked.

Coulson looked down at the doctor with a raised eyebrow. "No," she said, "tell them that there has been HYDRA activity there and they need to clear the place out. Tell them to search the computers and if anything regarding me and my powers is in there, to delete it, wipe it from existence. Oh! And tell them to spare Max Derrick, Joan O'Clery, Layla Rollins, and bring them here. I trust them. And I think that's their names."

"Did you just say Joan O'Clery, Layla Rollins, Max Derrick?" Coulson asked.

"Yes?"

The older man laughed lightly, "Ah, they're double agents."

Ackerly jolted up in the bed, head spinning intensely, and stared at Coulson in shock. "What?!"

"Double agents. They did a good job then I take it."

"They sure as hell did. No wonder they helped and didn't try to kill me. Why are they there?"

"HYDRA have people in S.H.I.E.L.D. even after the coup so it only makes sense we have our people in HYDRA."

"Fair enough." She agreed and looked back to Meyer. "Tell them what I said. Don't mention that I was held there and if they find out that I was there, leave that to me."

"Got it, Gabe." Teagan nodded and left the Vault.

Ackerly rested the now-empty cup on the bed as Phil stepped closer. "Well there goes the slow ease back into life on the edge." He said jokingly.

"There's no such thing as _slow ease_."

"Yes, that's true. Even during your recovery you fought for you life."

"Don't remind me." The doctor mumbled. She rubbed her face, pushing hair out of her eyes, and sighed. "Right, have you found Day?"

"Yes, she's been locked in her room." Phil told her, using his thumb to gesture behind him. "She doesn't yet know why we have her there."

Ackerly stood on wobbly feet with a nod and Orion quickly jumped off the bed. "Good. I want to make sure that I've the upper hand."

Coulson watched the doctor carefully as she regained her balance and winced. He eventually asked as she took another deep pained breath, "Are you sure your fit for interrogation?"

"It's less of an interrogation and more a few quick questions." She replied, ambling towards the door. "And yes, I'm as fit as a fiddle." Coulson followed her out of the Vault having grabbed the empty cup off the bed. It didn't take long to reach Day's room and they stood outside it. She rubbed her hands together eagerly and cracked her neck. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck." Phil said. "I'll be watching." And with that he left.

She smiled to herself and entered.

Exasperatedly pacing up and down the the room was Day, angrily huffing and puffing about being taken from her duty and not told why. She looked up hearing the door open. "Hey! Listen, whatever I've done, I haven't done it!" Day exclaimed. She paused then said, "Wait... you're Doctor Ackerly. Can you tell me why I'm here?"

"Do you know John Haugen?" She asked, holding out her hands to stop the woman approaching.

Day nodded confused, "Yeah, we were stationed in Oslo together."

Day's eyes followed her as she sat on the chair near the door. She crossed her right leg over her left. "Do you know anyone by the name of Erin Hook?"

Day still looked confused but nodded, "She's a physiotherapist. Well, she was until she disappeared."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"How the hell should I know?" The agent shrugged. She looked around then met the doctor's gaze. "She was most likely killed by HYDRA or killed by S.H.I.E.L.D. for being HYDRA."

Ackerly looked her up and down. She had stopped pacing and was still angry about being here but that was fading away. Her eyes occasionally left the doctor's face. "What do you know about me?"

"About you?" Day asked. Ackerly nodded. "Um, well I know that a couple years ago you were involved in an accident during a raid on a Helicarrier that caused the loss of your left leg and the gaining of your powers. You and Orion are inseparable. You're best friends with Meyer and Coulson. You wouldn't call your friendship with Fury as 'best friends' but you're very good ones. You're an Avenger and get along well with them all. I... I think you were in the Triskellion when HYDRA surfaced, I'm not sure. Then you disappeared after that and now you're here with another dog."

The doctor scratched her chin and nodded. Day was wrong about the Triskellion thing but not many people knew that she wasn't in the building, she was helping Nick's recovery far from it. "Know anyone called Shiori Tsukino?"

"Um... I think maybe she was in Communications? I'm sorry I don't really know."

"Why would people want me dead?"

Day paused for a moment to think. "Well I guess the amount of knowledge you have on S.H.I.E.L.D. You know more about us than Romanoff and Barton. Fury rarely hid anything from you." She was right there but Fury still hid a lot from her.

"One final question." The doctor said. Day looked curious. "Why would HYDRA want to use me or my powers for bad?"

"Are you kidding?" Day chuckled. "From what I understand, your powers are like a Phaser from Star Trek. You've got low, medium and high stun or kill. If they can harness the kill setting then that would be devastating for everyone."

Ackerly briskly stood from the chair with a satisfied nod and Day looked confused yet eager to leave. "Thank you for your cooperation." She pivoted on the balls of her feet and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Day called as the doctor took a step towards. She turned her head around to the slightly younger woman. "You never told me why I'm in here!"

"Haugen tried to kill everyone here through me. Including you. He is a member of HYDRA and I needed to see if you were one too." She told her matter of factly, and with that remark lingering in the air, she left the room with Day's confused shouts about Haugen being HYDRA behind her. The door closed and she rested her body and head against it. After a quiet moment and a calming sigh, she moved off from the door and headed out from the area. Day wasn't HYDRA. Her heart rate didn't increase as it normally would if someone was lying and her shouts about her not believing Haugen was HYDRA sounded genuine to her ears. She had no idea that he wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D.


	6. Chapter 6

Waiting for her at the top of the stairs was Coulson and May. "Haugen's awake and not happy." May told her.

Ackerly nodded in understanding. "I'll speak with him later, but first, I'm hungry." May shot her a stunned look as she passed and they headed to the common area. "Where's Orion?"

"He's with Skye, and Lyra's still with Fitz." Coulson said as they walked. "Did you get what you need?"

"Yes. Day had no idea that Haugen wasn't who she thought he was." She uttered. The other two agents nodded. "How are the computers getting on?"

"They've not found anything so far but they're still looking." May confessed. "And Bobbi's team are en route to Copenhagen."

"Excellent... Who's this Bobbi?"

"Another agent you're yet to meet. And before you ask, her team includes Lance Hunter, Mack- Alphonso MacKenzie, Isabelle Hartley, and Idaho." Coulson said. "You can thank them when they get back."

"If they did the job." She looked to the Veteran, "Anyway, May."

"Yes?"

"Are you aware what happened to me in Copenhagen?"

"I'm not." Her gaze flickered to Coulson and then back to her.

"I think you should. Phil, you can tell her." She said as they stopped outside the common area. Shock flickered over the older man's face but then he nodded. She looked at May. "I trust you to keep it quiet."

"Tell her everything?" Coulson clarified.

Ackerly gave a nod of her head, "Yes." Her tone of voice then turned to that of a warning one. "And only her. I don't want anyone else knowing."

"Who does know?" May asked.

"Phil, Teagan, soon-to-be you, Nick, and... and Shiori." She cleared her throat and chuckled, "And most of HYDRA probably."

"We'll talk in my office." Coulson said to May. Then he said to Ackerly, "Eat whatever you want. Skye is only a lab down."

She nodded her head and watched the two agents wander away to Phil's office. Her stomach grumbled and she headed into the common area. Trip was there speaking with Teagan, both holding hot drinks in their hands. Teagan grinned seeing Ackerly approach, "Hey, doc! How did the questioning go?"

"Wonderfully." The doctor replied, opening a cupboard to locate some decent food. "Day's innocent." She glanced at their hands as she looking into another cupboard. "What are you drinking?"

"Tea." Meyer said.

"Coffee." Trip answered.

"I thought so. I could smell that coffee from the basement," she mumbled, pulling out a ready-made sandwich that looked like it had no owner, "does this place do hot chocolate?"

"Should do." Teagan said.

"Is this anyone's?" She held up the sandwich. Both agents shook their heads. "Awesome, it's mine now." She rummaged through a few more cupboards before finding the hot chocolate and promptly boiling the kettle as per the instructions. As she waited for it to boil, she looked at Trip and smiled, "What's the chemical formula for the molecules in sweets?"

Trip's bow knitted together in confusion, "I don't know?"

"Carbon, Holmium, Cobalt, Lanthanum, and Tellurium."

"What?" He asked, thoroughly confused.

"Do you know the periodic table?" She asked. He her gave her a so-so shake of his hand. Sighing, she looked at Teagan for help.

"The answer is chocolate. The chemical formula for those elements is CHoCoLaTe."

"Thank you! C is for Carbon. Ho is for Holmium. Co is for Cobalt-"

Trip held up a hand to stop her, "I get it now, doctor." She smiled happily at him.

The kettle boiled and she followed the instructions for making the hot chocolate. Stirring the cup, she took a large bite out of the ham and piccalilli sandwich. "I've got another one." She said after she swallowed. Teagan rolled her eyes but Trip looked a little more interested in what she had to say. "Okay, so the other day someone told me they liked my jacket and it must've cost an arm and a leg."

He raised an eyebrow, she had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"I told them that was wrong. It only cost me a leg." Teagan booed loudly and the doctor smiled proudly. Trip paused for a moment before he understood it. Mock bowing, she said, "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week."

"Don't give up your day job just yet."

"Are you kidding me? The amount of laughs I'd get for having this thing," she tapped her prosthesis, "would make me set for life."

"Please don't..." Teagan mumbled.

"I'm the one with one foot in the grave so I can say what I like." Picking up her mug of hot chocolate and taking another bite of her sandwich, she moved from the kitchenette to a comfy table and chair with Teagan following. Trip had to return to help Skye. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" She asked as the agent sat down.

"I'm on a break." Teagan said, setting down her cup. "Besides, Trip and Skye are fine on their own."

"I don't need a baby sitter." The doctor replied with a full mouth.

"But you need a friend after everything you've gone through."

Ackerly sighed with an agreeing nod. "You're right... There's enough hostility in the world without me adding to it."

"I wouldn't call it hostility. I'd say you're just so used to close friends dying that you don't want people to get close and, y'know, die."

She met her friend's gaze, "It's seems you're doing alright."

"What can I say?" Teagan said, extending out her arms. "Death fears me."

Ackerly stared at her with a raised eyebrow and her lip twitched upwards. "Perhaps." A pause followed, then she broke into a fit of giggles. A few agents around them turned their heads towards the giggling Avenger and Teagan smiled widely. Ackerly slapped her left knee and put her forehead on the table, taking deep breaths to calm her giggles.

"Doct-" Skye started.

She turned her head to look at the hacktivist through her fringe, the young woman's face half confused, half intrigued. "Yes?" The doctor asked.

"I, um," she cleared her throat, "we found something in Haugen's computer."

The doctor jumped up from her chair in an instant, scoffing her mouth full of the sandwich and taking a large swig of her hot chocolate. "Show me." She hurriedly left with Skye and Teagan brought up the rear.


	7. Chapter 7

"No, no, no!" came Trip's frantic shouts from inside the lab. The trio hurriedly entered and they found him standing by a computer with lines of code onscreen rapidly disappearing. Orion lay asleep on the floor, ignoring the whole thing.

"What is it?!" Skye quickly asked, dashing over to the console.

"Everything on the computer's being deleted!"

"What?!" The three women practically shouted.

"I was gone for minute!" Skye huffed, sitting down in her chair. She typed at the keyboard with haste then, after a moment, stamped her foot. "Damn! I must've activated a hidden virus when I decrypted that data file!"

"Can you get it back?" asked Ackerly eagerly.

Skye slowly nodded her head, "Uh, yeah, yeah, I think I can if I'm fast enough."

"Do it!" Skye nodded her head again and quickly went to work.

"Gabriella!" shouted Coulson from behind her. That caused Orion to jolt awake from his sleep and swiftly stand.

She rounded on him and snapped, "Yes?"

Phil was taken back by her sudden outburst but continued with what he came to tell her. "Haugen's asking for you."

"He'll have to wait." She replied turning back to Skye and the computer. After a pause, she turned back to Coulson, feeling bad about snapping at him. She ran a hand through her fringe, "Sorry, Phil, things are a..." she sighed, "are not going well. I'll, uh, I'll came see Haugen while Skye's dealing with that _bloody_ computer." He nodded and gestured for her to follow. She glanced back to Teagan, Skye, Trip and Orion, "I'll be back," and followed Phil out of the lab.

"What do you plan on asking him?" He asked as they walked back towards the basement.

"What he did to me and why he did it." She replied. "Though I have a feeling I know the answer to the both of those questions."

"What will you do if your suspicions are true?" She glanced at him with a knowing look. "You're going to kill him?"

"Well we can't have him knowing where we are and I can't risk him going back to HYDRA and telling them that it worked."

"He didn't see it work."

"I know," she said, meeting his gaze, "but I'm not willing to take that chance."

Phil let out a slow, acknowledging sigh and nodded his head. "If you feel the need that you have to do it then I won't stop you."

"Thank you." She said simply. They descended the stairs to the basement, she muttered, "I'll make it quick." Ackerly and Coulson now stood outside the Vault Haugen was being kept in, his pissed off shouts muffled and quiet through both the force field and thick door between them. "He's not happy alright." She commented.

"When... get out... here, I'm killing... all! Hail HYDRA!" She focused her ears to hear what he was yelling about. "Gabriella, you're a time bomb and we have our finger in the big, red button!" The next noise was his obnoxious cackling.

She rolled her eyes with a huff, "Wish me luck."

"Good luck and try not to let him get to you," he said, "we'll be watching."

"Great," she said sarcastically, "an audience."

Coulson chuckled and softly patted her on the back. "It's just me and May." She nodded with a slight smile. "And maybe Skye and Teagan." He added thoughtfully. She stared at him with a mock horrified look before rolling her eyes once again and taking a step towards. "Come to my office once you've finished." He told her, and then he left.

She stared at the door in front of her and Haugen still yelled behind it, throwing in some Norwegian insults for good measure. Taking a deep breath, she muttered, "Well, time to get those answers." Ackerly pushed open the door and Haugen's shouts stopped almost instantly. He watched her with piercing eyes as she descended the small steps and moved to stand beside the console panel.

After an agonisingly long pause, his harsh voice broke the silence, "Doctor." She watched him study her body closely. "So, did our little concoction work?" The only response she gave him was silence. He stepped closer to the barrier separating them. "Hmm, if it did work, did it cause you to loose your tongue?"

She ignored his question and gave him the first of her three questions to answer. "Why do it?"

"Why not?" He replied with a nonchalant shrug. "With Coulson and the others dead, _permanently_ , then HYDRA can reign supreme. You're the best bet to taking out as many of you as we can." He was correct in that assumption and thankfully he was complying so far, but that could change when he saw fit.

She narrowed her eyes at him and analysed his posture. Dominant. Confident. And restless? His left index and middle finger drummed against his thigh and his gaze was unwavering from hers. His right hand was on his hip, his shoulders square and chest puffed out, making him look a few inches taller than he was. Why? Onto her last two question, she still watched him. "What was in that and what was it?"

"I don't know what was in that, I just administered it. What it was, though, you know that. A kick-starter to the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and it didn't just start with you." His eyes left her gaze for a moment, flickering back to the door and returning with a mischievous and malicious glint about them. " _Du er ikke den eneste som leser til å blåse_."

Her eyes widened in realisation.

His computer.

Pivoting on the balls of her feet, she sprinted from the Vault; Haugen laughing behind her. She teared up the set of stairs and raced down the corridor to the lab. Skye, Teagan, Orion and Trip were in danger. She skidded onto the lab and the three turned to stare at her with confused faces. Before anyone could say a thing, she grabbed the laptop, yanked it from Skye's hands, and took off again, towards the surface way out. She heard them and a few others pursuing. "It's a bomb!" She yelled to get them to back off. But only a few did.

The increasing temperature of the computer warned her that detonation was near and there was no way that she would make it outside in time. No more needed to die because of her. She deviated from her path, dashing down a clear corridor.

Moments.

The computer, no, bomb began to burn her hands. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder. Teagan, Coulson, May, Skye, Trip, and Orion. No one was dying today. It let out a high pitched whine.

Seconds.

Ackerly threw herself onto the floor, shielding everyone from the foundation shaking explosion.


	8. Chapter 8

Encircling her mind was the muffled shouts of her friends and the slight ringing in her ears. She _wasn't_ dead, how was that possible? The computer exploded underneath her and she was still _alive_. How? Her chest, head and hands hurt but they were the only ill effects from what happened. How on _Earth_ was she _alive_? Her eyes were squeezed shut. She thought she was going to die but didn't. Slowly, she opened one eye first and found herself staring down at the ground. She opened the other. Her hands... they were glowing! _What the hell?_ _!_ Jolting upright, she expected the exploded computer parts to falls to the floor from her hands, but they didn't. They just stayed there.

A hand roughly grabbed her by the shoulder and jerked her around to face them. Coulson, May, Skye, and Trip stared at her in complete and utter shock. She looked up to the owner of the hand and Teagan's astounded face stared down at her. She shifted her gaze down to her hands, and the broken computer was encased in a transparent blue ball floating between them. Her jaw dropped. Was... was this a force field? It was, wasn't it! She created a force field to centralise the blast and keep it from destroying everything.

 _I..._ _Wh..._ Speechless was the word to describe her.

The humans stood motionless at the end of the hall but Orion was the first of their group to move. He slowly edged towards his owner, keeping himself low to the ground. She watched him approach with the upmost caution and once he reached her, he nudged her left forearm and sat. The shock of the event slowly wore off in those present but it still remained in the air. Coulson gingerly moved to her, eyes fixated on the force field between her hands.

"Whoa." Teagan breathed, finally removing her hand from the doctor's shoulder. "That's... I... Wow."

Staring down at her hands incredulous, she said, "I've... I've only done this once before and that was during New York when I was bombarded by Chitauri. I tried to recreate it since but I haven't been able to..." she looked up, "Now I have."

"That's awesome." Skye commented, still having not moved from her spot beside May. "And creepy."

"It's still active." Teagan said, eyeing the force field. "Are you doing anything?"

She shook her head, "I'm not. It's just happening." Electricity shot through her arms, causing her to leap to her feet and drop the computer parts. They clattered to the floor. "Ah, ow! Flippin' heck!"

"Are you alright?!" Teagan and Coulson asked, rushing forward.

"Yeah," she looked to the bomb, feeling a little down on the disappeared force field, "damn, there that goes." She wondered if she could do it again but that she to wait, she still had to deal with Haugen. She spun to the face the crowd that had suddenly gathered behind May and the others. The amount of people there put her off a little. She glanced at Coulson, "I'm going to see Haugen."

"Do you think that's a good idea?!" He questioned.

"Absolutely not but he nearly killed us all." She quickly left them before they could protest. Ackerly thundered down the corridors to get to the Vault.

She hastily entered and Haugen jumped to his feet in shock. "I heard the explosion but you're not dead? What the hell _are_ you?! Why aren't you and everyone else dead? That bomb was specifically made to destroy this entire base and you're alive!" She slammed her hand down on the control panel for the force field and it deactivated. "What are you doing?" She dashed forward and grabbed his collar.

"Thank you for unlocking another ability, _drittsekk_."

"What?!" He shouted, both confused and shocked.

Shoving him against the back wall, she snarled, "You heard me."

"And now you're gonna kill me."

"I am."

"You won't do it." He taunted.

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. It's not like you to kill an unarmed man, now is it?"

"You're not unarmed and you obviously don't know me very well."

His eyes widened and wore an impressed expression. "How'd you find out?"

"I know a knife in a boot when I see one."

"Of course you do..."

They held each others gaze for a moment, adrenaline rushing through their bodies. The air thick was silent tension that could be cut by a knife. She flashed him a smile before sending a fatal burst of energy into his chest. He let out a pained whine and went limp under her grasp. She breathed a sigh of relief and slowly lowered Haugen's body onto the bed. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at him, "I've killed many unarmed people." She rubbed her forehead and swiftly left the vault.

Ackerly quickly found her way to Coulson's office where he, May, Teagan, Skye and Trip had watched the proceedings on the large screen. They talked, clearly not having spotted her arrival, about what had happened. "She just killed him and that doesn't bother you?" Trip asked.

"It bothers you?" Teagan questioned, eyebrow raised. "What would we have done if we let him walk? He would've told HYDRA where we are and we'd all be dead within a week."

Trip looked at her for a moment, considering her words. "I guess you're right, but it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I didn't like it either." The group turned to her in an instant and Trip shifted on his feet. She entered the office, "But I wasn't going to have him crawl his arse back to HYDRA and tell them where you are, so I had to kill him."

"We can let Day go?" May asked.

"Yeah, she's no threat." The doctor turned to Skye and Trip, "How's the computer?"

Skye sighed, "We could only salvage his orders and where and who they came from."

She took a step towards the hacktivist and said a little too forcefully, "Go on."

"A woman called Erin Hook and it came from Copenhagen."

Her mouth opened to form words but nothing came out. How could Erin give her orders from beyond the grave? She was dead and she killed her. How? Were they sent by a third party after she died or, knowing she was going to die, pre-emptively set a timer on her orders to be given to him to execute once she arrived in the Playground? The latter seemed the most likely. She may have been her enemy but Erin thought things through well. And she thought she destroyed the Copenhagen base, no, only the floor leading the way out. Didn't she try to destroy some computers? No, she didn't, she wanted to get herself and Shiori out of there was quickly as possible, the computers could wait. So maybe a third party did send Haugen those orders after all and the thing used to attempt to detonate her. She should've paid more attention to taking out the computers and hard drives during her escape.

"Gabe, are you alright?" Teagan's concerned voice and the hand on her shoulder snapped her from her thoughts. They had all moved and stood by her with varying degrees of worry written on their faces.

She blinked a couple times and nodded, "Oh, yeah, I am, sorry. I was just thinking."

"About?" Phil asked.

"How I should've wrecked as many computers as I could." She glanced at Teagan to remove her hand, which she did, and looked at Skye, "Was that everything?"

She nodded with an apologetic look, "Yeah, sorry."

"It's fine. You did all you could."


	9. Chapter 9

A beep sounded from Coulson's desk and he moved towards it to see what or who it was. "It's Bobbi." He said and pressed the comm button. She looked towards the screen and five faces appeared on screen; two women, three men. They were missing three. "Bobbi! How did things go?"

The face closest to the screen, Bobbi, spoke, "It went well. It took us a while to get into the base because of a cave in but everything's sorted. We ran into trouble but they won't bother us anymore and we sorta did as you asked- all the computers and any back-ups we found were all wiped when we checked." Ackerly's eyebrow raised in curiosity. Why were they deleted? Bobbi and the other faces looked at her. "You're Doctor Ackerly, right?"

"That's me." She confirmed with a nod.

"It's a good idea you sent us here, there were a whole load of HYDRA there. How'd you know of this place?"

"I was following a lead and it lead me there. I tried to look around the base but they found me."

"You must've put up one hell of a fight, you couldn't walk three feet without tripping over dead bodies and broken furniture." piped up the British male from behind Bobbi's left shoulder.

She rubbed the back of her neck, "I most certainly did and they were doing some crazy stuff."

"Like what?" asked the dark-skinned male beside Bobbi's right shoulder.

"I don't want to remember." Speaking of things to remember, where were Joan, Max and Layla. "Didn't Coulson tell you to bring home three others? The ones that helped me out?"

The agents on the other end froze and quickly exchanged glances. Don't let it be what she thinks. "I'm sorry," said Bobbi softly, "they didn't make it."

Rage, frustration, sadness and shock washed through her body like a tsunami. She _shouldn't_ have left them, she _should've_ gone back sooner and taken them from that dreadful place. Now they were _dead_ and it was all because of _her_. She turned on her heels and quickly marched out of the office, closely followed by Teagan and Orion. Coulson stayed behind and spoke to the others about something.

"Gabriella!" Teagan called from behind her. "Gabriella!" The quick-footed woman over took her and block her path from going any further. "Gabe, don't blame yourself."

"How can't I?! I was on their operating table, I woke up, they _helped_ me and I left them to Erin! She _killed_ them!"

"You don't know that."

She could punch something she was that mad! "I do!" That's it! With a growl, she turned to her immediate left and punched the wall so hard it sent a shockwave up her right arm and through her body. She turned back to Teagan, who took a step back almost shaking. Orion had actually jumped. _Oh, that was a bad move._ Running a slow hand through her hair and anger subsiding, she sighed remorsefully and hung her head, muttering, "I'm sorry... I'm just..."

"I-I might not necessarily understand but you don't need to be sorry, it's been a hard couple months for you." She replied, taking a step forward. Orion nudged his owner's right leg.

"That's an understatement." She murmured, head still down.

Teagan placed her hands on Ackerly's shoulders and she slowly looked up to meet her friend's soft gaze. "It's not your fault."

"Yeah, I know, but I sure as hell feels like it."

"Do you want a hug?" She suggested with an unsure smile.

"Yes please." Teagan chuckled and quickly pulled the doctor into a tight hug. "What did I do to deserve a friend like you?" She asked rhetorically.

"Well," she started, "I don't know. It just sorta happened, didn't it?"

"Yeah, we bonded over your struggle in Ops and it took off from there." There was a pause then Ackerly gave Teagan a quick squeeze before pulling away with a smile and with her hands on the side of the other's upper arm, "I really appreciate you being my best friend and everything you've done."

An embarrassed blush crept up Teagan's cheeks, "Thanks, Gabe. You're a brilliant bestie and I wouldn't trade you for the world."

Now it was her turn for a hot blush to spread from her neck to her cheeks, "Y'know, if we keep this up then people will think we're dating."

Teagan laughed, "It's a nice thought but you're not my type."

She agreed with a nod of her head and removed her hands from Meyer's arms. "You're not mine either."

A beat. "What is your type? Has it changed or is still the same?" Ackerly threw her head back and let out a loud laugh. "Oh, come on! Tell me."

"You've known me now long?"

"Eight years, give or take a few months, and I don't regularly ask about you romantic life, cut me some slack."

"I don't have time for all that while... everything's as it is."

"So you do have a type?"

"Yes," she chuckled and clapped Teagan around the arm, "enough of that. Let's head back." The younger woman made an unsatisfied groan before they ambled back to Coulson's office. "Has it really been eight years?"

"Well we met January '06 and it's now June 2014, so yeah, eight years and about five months."

"Bloody hell." She's known her for over eight years, wow! And they knew almost everything about each other, from favourite colours to their deepest secrets, though not their darkest; it was a friendship that she could never get sick of.

"My sentiments exactly. And what a bonkers eight years it's been."

She nudged her friend's shoulder, "And here's to a even more bonkers eight years."

There was short pause as they dodged a group of agents and after a second, Teagan blurted out, "I know! Once we reach double digits then we should go out and party!"

She stared at her with a curious look. "Party? Like rat-arsed party?"

"Hell yeah!"

"I mean... it's been a long time since I've done that."

"My graduation to be precise. You had no shame that night."

"Hey! I've matured since then."

Teagan pouted with a so-so expression, "But not that much though."

Ackerly laughed and nodded, "Okay, you've me there."

"So party?" She questioned.

The doctor nodded again more enthusiastically, "Alright, on our 10 year anniversary, we'll have a bitchin' party."

Teagan laughed happily and shoved the older woman's shoulder, "Yes! Bet anyone listening in is thinking that we're married."

"Married in friendship."

"Haha! We certainly are."

They entered Coulson's office and Bobbi and her teams' faces had disappeared from the big screen. May and Orion were there but Skye and Trip had left. Phil turned to the two woman upon hearing them enter, he looked at her, "You alright now?"

"Yeah." She confirmed. "But maybe a little pissed off still."

"Good." He said, smiling. "Bobbi and her team are heading back as we speak. Are you going to stick around for that long?"

She thought for a moment. She did want to see those faces behind the screen and hear what they had to say about the HYDRA base that she missed and if they stumbled across anything in there. But what would she do if she decided to leave? Seek out Nick? Find Steve and Sam? Work with Tony and Maria? Venture out in her own, taking out HYDRA left and right? Stay here even? No, she knew she couldn't stay here no matter how much she wanted too. When she leaves, she'll find her own way. She gave a nod of her head, "I will. Then I'll be gone."

Teagan made a disappointed noise beside her, "Aw, damn." May gave her a strange look.

"You know I don't stay in places for too long." Ackerly pointed out as she rubbed Orion's head.

"I know. It's just that you've not even been here a week."

"Would you like me to stay for the rest of the week?" She suggested, folding her arms with a raised eyebrow.

"Can you? Yes, stay and help us out!"

Ackerly, Coulson and May exchanged looks. "Are you sure I'm not your type?" The doctor asked, smiling cheekily.

"I am. And I only want you to stay for the week not a month."

"And where will I be staying?"

"You can-" started May, who was rapidly interrupted by Teagan.

"Stay with me! We can bunk together just like old times."

Ackerly glanced at Phil and May, "It's up to you," he said, "she did offer after all."

"Alright, I'll stay with you."

"Awesome! Because I already have your bag in there."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "Of course you did."

* * *

 **We're nearing the end of this. Two more chapters to go. Thanks to everyone who's reading!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

That night, which was no less than two hours after her decision to stay, Bobbi's team arrived back at the Playground and she met them outside the hanger with Coulson, Teagan and Orion. They introduced themselves to her. They were Lance Hunter, Isabella Hartley, Idaho, and Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie. Once that was over, they headed back towards the office and she was first first to speak regarding her prompt leaving of their first meeting. "I'm sorry I high tailed it out of there while you were talking. That's another three people dead because of me." She could feel Teagan's eyes burning into her.

"You don't need to apologise." Bobbi said. "We should've been quicker."

"I should've taken them with me."

Lance, who was preoccupied with petting Orion, asked, "So what where they doing there? It looked like some pretty heavy stuff was going on."

"I don't really know what they were doing, I was... too busy with trying not to die. And you're right, whatever they were doing wasn't good." She felt Bobbi's eyes on her for a moment.

"It's a shame we didn't try to retrieve those files. They could've answered a lot of questions."

Ackerly nodded agreeingly and stifled a yawn, "Yeah, real shame, but what's done is done." The rest of them nodded their heads and they peeled off into Coulson's office with her, Teagan and Orion saying goodbye and heading to bed.

"I'm glad your sticking around even if it is only for a week." Her friend said. "Have you decided where you're going?"

"I thought about it and the best bet for me to help Nick and take out HYDRA bases around the world."

"You're helping everyone out by doing that. Where do you think he is now?"

"No idea, and that's the fun in finding him."

They entered their shared accommodation and her bed for the rest of the week would be a mattress on the floor, against the wall where Teagan's desk once sat. Both women were used to roughing it out and although this wasn't exactly that, they'd still act like it was. Her duffle bag rested atop the mattress which she promptly moved to the floor and sat down with a yawn. "You want to shower first?" Teagan asked, gesturing to the ensuite bathroom.

"Nah," she replied, "the tiredness has crept up on me. I need to sleep. Besides, I'd fall over."

She chuckled, "Fair enough, I'll see you in a bit." And with that Teagan went to have her shower. Orion made himself comfy on the large folded blanket at the foot of her mattress. Lyra was still with Fitz but she didn't mind.

In the meanwhile, she took off her prosthesis and sock, thinking about whether or not to actually change into her pajamas. Due to her constant feeling of being unsafe and on edge in places, she's not used to changing into sleepwear in case something bad happened and needed her attention. But the Playground was a safe place, what happened today aside, and they had plenty of people who could take care of things if anything did happen. Pajamas were much more comfortable than sleeping in her day clothes. _Eh, what the hell._ With a deciding shrug, she shuffled over to her duffle and rummaged around for her pajamas. It didn't take long to locate them and when she did she quickly changed into them. Teagan might laugh at the fact that they were vibrant red and covered in white mickey mouse heads but she's seen her in much, much worse PJs before. She neatly folded her clothes and put them aside before leaning against the wall and massaging her aching stump. The socket might be incredibly comfortable but wearing it for extended period does start to hurt. She stretched her other aching limbs too.

Ackerly looked up upon hearing the bathroom door open. Teagan exited, paused for a moment with a raised eyebrow at her pajamas, then jumped on her bed, tossing aside the towel she used to dry her chestnut hair. "Nice, jammies." She said, rolling into her front and propping up on her elbows. "For a doctor and an Avenger, they're pretty awesome."

"Thanks? And for a busy S.H.I.E.L.D agent, I'm surprised you lot sleep at all."

"We do... Sometimes not as much as we should." Teagan looked at her then to Orion who had quickly fallen asleep. "Gabe?" She asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Yeah?" She asked curiously, continuing to rub her stump.

"Do you have a superhero name? I mean Stark's Iron Man, Steve is Captain America, Banner is, well, Hulk when he's mad; what about you?"

"Some of the public and news outlets call me Emit, but I'm not too fond of that, I don't like it."

"Then what would you like to be called?"

"Nothing rude."

Teagan chuckled at that and thoughtfully rubbed her chin with the back of her hand. "Something that reflects your powers... hmm. Volatile?" The doctor gave her an angry look. "Yeah, you're right, it's crap... What about Spark?" She shook her head. "Or Flash?"

"My powers don't resemble a flash."

"They kinda do but I see what you mean. How... about... Neuron?"

"Nothing really happened to my neurons either, they became slightly better than the average human. So, no."

A pause lingered in the air as Teagan thought. She could see her friend's face working to think of something. She blurt out, "Oh! You know how much you love Orion?" The dog's ears pricked up but he remained asleep.

"Yes?" She said, unsure, narrowing her eyes.

"Okay, so, hear me out on this."

"Go on, Teapot."

"Corona."

"As in the aura of plasma that surrounds the sun during a total solar eclipse, corona?"

"Precisely!" Teagan enthused, pushing herself higher on her elbows. "It's a great name. It follows that cosmic theme you're so fond of; Orion- that's a constellation and a star- Lyra is also the name of a constellation and your other dog, Altair, was a star too."

The doctor pouted thoughtfully, "That's a nice reasoning but my powers don't exactly form a 'crown' shape nor are they plasma-y."

Teagan sighed, resting her head on the bed and letting her damp hair fall. "Superhero names are hard." She grumbled.

She glanced over to Orion then back over to the defeated Teagan. "Y'know," she started, her friend looked up through her dangling hair, "Corona isn't a bad name... and the sun does release energy. O.R.B.S. is-was-whatever a luminous sphere too."

"So?" Meyer drawled, a smile tugging at her lips.

She gave a confident nod of her head. "Alright, Corona."

"Yay!" She did a little dance on the bed.

"But, roll play. I want to hear how it sounds."

"Okay, so... I'll be a news anchor. Ahem!" Teagan put on her best stereotypical news reader voice, "In other news, earlier today Captain America and Corona worked together to defeat the tyrannical leader, Dick Tate. And an eyewitness at the scene had this to say, "they kicked absolute ass and I wouldn't want to be other bad guys. Corona is pretty freakin' awesome!" More on this story at six. Or," she cleared her throat, "oh God! Help! Save me! There's something after me! Help Corona!"

Ackerly laughed and nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yep, definitely Corona." She said before she yawned.

Teagan grinned, rolled onto her back and slithered into bed. "You're tired. Goodnight Gabe."

"That's abrupt."

"It's like you said, we don't get enough sleep."

The doctor chuckled, "Alright, goodnight." She moved off from her position against the wall and scrambled into the bed, pulling the covers up over her shoulders to keep her nice and warm. It took a few moments to find a comfortable sleeping position and after adjusting her pillow, quickly went to sleep.

* * *

"Gabriella! Wake up!" Rough hands shook her violently and she jolted upright, wide awake and tired. Teagan was crouched beside her, hands on her shoulders, with worry prominent on her features.

"Ah! What?" She asked in a tired daze, frantically looking around the still room for trouble. "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

She quickly nodded, "Yeah, yeah, everyone's fine but I'm not sure about you."

She took a deep breath, at least no one was hurt. "Spit it out, what's wrong with me this time?"

"You were shouting..." Teagan answered hesitantly, "about... well it sounded like gibberish but it troubled you. Are you alright? Were you having a nightmare?"

She was shouting? Well that explains why she wakes up not fully rested the majority of the time. "I-I-no, I was just... sleeping."

"Are you sure? Just sleeping?"

She nodded assuringly, "I was... I'm sorry I woke you."

Teagan removed her hands from the doctor's shoulders and sat back on her heels, rubbing her sleepy face. "Well, it keeps me on my toes. Try not to do it again."

"I'll try." Teagan smiled at her and got back into her bed. Ackerly stretched before laying back down, pulling the covers over her and swiftly falling back asleep.

* * *

 **This is the penultimate chapter folks!**


	11. Chapter 11

During the remainder of the week, Doctor Ackerly spent most of her time helping the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with anything they needed. A supply run? She's on it. Need a hand in taking out a HYDRA cell not far from them? Done. Fitz was slowly getting better with his aphasia and hypoxia with Lyra and Orion's help but he would still need more time to recover. She 100% decided to help Fury in Europe and other countries around the world where HYDRA cells were most conspicuous; she needed to contact him but instead of her having a hard time trying to find him, he contacted her saying to report to the Theta Protocol facility before helping him in Europe. She was also to try and recruit more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for Phil in the fight against HYDRA. She would be busy until they found Loki's Sceptre, wherever that was.

She stood out in the hanger at the foot of her Quinjet with Orion and Lyra at her heels and Phil, Teagan, May, Skye, Trip, Fitz, Lance and Bobbi, Hartley, Idaho, and Mack before her. The latter five a ways back from the others because they didn't know her as well as them. They had all hugged, shook hands and had almost finished their farewells. Teagan and Phil were the last to go. Coulson parted from their hug and stepped back. "Take care, Gabriella. Be safe."

"I will, and you should tell HYDRA to be safe because I'm coming after them." She replied. At that, he chuckled and made way for Teagan, who quickly hugged her friend.

"Kick ass, Gabe." She said before releasing the tight hug.

"Always." She answered with a smirk.

Teagan cast her eyes down to the dogs, "You too." They barked in agreement and she let out a laugh.

Ackerly glanced to each of the agents standing in front of her and she smiled at them. "If you need a hand with _anything_ , don't hesitate to call."

Phil nodded his head. "We won't."

Her eyes landed on the young scientist, "And Fitz, as a doctor," Teagan snorted. Okay, fine, she wasn't an MD, "you're doing great, keep it up." He smiled in response. She'd only witnessed one Simmons moment with him but she knew more were to come. "To everyone else, continue making S.H.I.E.L.D. awesome. Show 'em we're never backing down." They nodded and made noises of agreement. "Right then, I'll see you all around." She didn't like goodbyes, then again who did? She whistled and the dogs bound into the Quinjet; her duffle already inside. She turned and walked up the ramp.

"Bye, doc!" Teagan called, waving

She turned her head to her, "Bye!" and the Quinjet ramp closed shut. She imputed the Theta Protocol facility's coordinates into the navigation computer and the jet lifted into the air, hovered for a moment before taking off and flying towards its destination. She would miss them, like always.

End

* * *

 **And there we go! Friends Are the Best Medicine has come to the end. (A short last chapter, I know). But don't fret, there's more to come, I just need to get over writers block and think of an actual plot for the next one. There's gonna be a small oneshot prologue to Compromised featuring everyone's favourite popsicle, spider, and falcon, as well as Maria and Fury. It'll take place during CATWS and will be posted once I've ironed out the kinks, so it might be up next week or so.**

 **See ya then. Thanks so much for reading!**


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